Collier County Ocean Beaches (Tamiami, Naples: rentals, to buy, high school)

[tmozer]

Since it was a nice afternoon with low wind and humidity, I hopped on my bike and road from where I am off Airport Road the 4.2 miles to the end of Vanderbilt Beach Road to check out the beach. It's not a ride I would want to do everyday, especially on a hot humid day, but it is doable. A little hairy crossing some of the major highways, particularly Tamiami, but no close calls this time.....

Anyway, I guess it was after 5 pm when I arrived and the beach was still packed. Apparently it was high tide, so that made the crush tighter. I walked a block in each direction checking out the sights. There seems to be only one bathroom by the main entrance walkway.

While there is nothing wrong with the beach and I should expect this location to be crowded in high season, I think I would rather find a less popular beach where my Collier County parking pass would work.

Suggestions please?

[kristin4]

Try barefoot beach. It is actually in Bonita beach, but your Collier pass works for it. It is nice there. 3 separate parking lots, bathroom 1st lot as well as food, 3rd lot has a recycling toilet. Also has kayak rentals.

I like Vanderbilt beach when snow bird season is over. Less crowded. Naples pear is also nice for the occasional visit.

I think most of the beaches will still be busy, but in the next few weeks, they should be clearing out.

Can't wait for the water to get warmer! I noticed everyone just sits on the beach and they do not enter the frigid water...I don't blame them, I can't even get me feet in the water yet.

[Hawthorne341]

Originally Posted by kristin4

Try barefoot beach. It is actually in Bonita beach, but your Collier pass works for it. It is nice there. 3 separate parking lots, bathroom 1st lot as well as food, 3rd lot has a recycling toilet. Also has kayak rentals.

Totally - I love Barefoot/Bonita Beach! The two lots (Collier to the South and Lee to the North) at Bonita Beach Rd where it hits the Gulf are relatively small which means the beach is usually pretty open - even during season. Plus, a lot of the parking is used for people going to Doc's (we've done that many times, cheaper than valet).

City of Naples beaches (7th Av N down to Port Royal) don't seem to get too crowded either and it's a nice wide beach. Again, because of the limited parking along the beach there are only so many people there. But it's usually not that hard to find parking, you'll just have to pay if you don't have a city sticker. Or, find a non-metered spot a few blocks away

[tmozer]

Since it was not a good beach day today (too chilly, windy and cloudy) I decided to take a drive and show my wife Vanderbilt Beach and check out Barefoot Beach. Vanderbilt Beach is a short drive for us, so it will probably remain our first option. Barefoot Beach is nice, but a little longer of a drive from N. Naples than I would want to do often. While we were sort of close, we also drove to the Dog Beach on the Lover's Key strip (Lee County). Lots of dogs today (our dog was intimidated).

It's a shame that the Collier County beaches are so anti-dog. We parked in the Vanderbilt Beach indoor parking and I thought the guard was not going to let us park because we had our Pug with us. I told him we were just going to look and not physically enter the beach......

[JudiPatooti]

I'm with "Hawthorne". I like all the beaches at the ends of the AVENUES (not the streets). Don't worry about the meters. Anyone with a sticker can park at them for free. They feel so "uncitified" if you know what I mean.

Lowdermilk Park is also a nice beach with a large roofed picnic deck and stand that's open to buy lunch and ice cream during the day. Or, you can just bring your own picnic dinner and sit at the picnic tables at night. There are also picnic tables on the lawn and around the little lake there to sit at.

I sure agree about there being no beach for our dogs! It's such a shame. There's nothing like watching your dog have a blast at the beach to make you smile. We bring ours up to Sanibel some evenings, because the entire Island is dog friendly, but you do have to keep them on a leash, although once the snowbirds thin out and the sunset is over no one says anything if you let them off the leash during dusk and they don't bother anyone. You'll see a lot of them swimming and such.

[AliciaMaria]

There are some other great beaches that are much more private. They're a bit further south though, off of Horizon Way off Gulf Shore Blvd N. (Just south of Venetian Village..) There's a parking lot there, so it's easy to park and get to. Highly recommend! Back when I was in high school, we'd always go there to see the sunsets.

[tmozer]

Still trying to find our way around (I know, it easy once you get use to which highways run N/S or E/W), I was looking online for a good map that locates all the beaches in the Collier County area. Any website suggestions?

[AliciaMaria]

Google Maps

and then enter in like, 34109 or another Naples area zip code, and it'll zoom in. You can view satellite images of just about everything!